Hacker International was a Japanese
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
company that developed and published games from 1990 to 2001 for the
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles.
Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
Famicom (including
Famicom Disk System),
NEC
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It prov ...
PC Engine (including
PC Engine CD),
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
(as Map Japan)
consoles, and Microsoft Windows PCs. The company was known for its play-for-
porn approach to gaming,
with such games as ''AV Pachi-Slot'' (''
Hot Slots'') and ''Soap Panic'' (''
Magic Bubble'') featuring female
nudity
Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing.
The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to ...
as a reward for skilful playing. These games were usually distributed through
mail order and sold approximately 30,000 to 50,000 copies each.
Many of their games were developed by
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
ese companies and were released in non-pornographic form elsewhere in the world; however three were released in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
for the
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...
with pornography intact (albeit sometimes modified to "Westernise" the girls' features) by another Taiwanese company, Panesian.
The Hacker name was first used by Satoru Hagiwara, an entrepreneur and former music producer, for a monthly PC magazine.
Hacker International was founded by Hagiwara as an outlet for its writers' ideas; its first product was the Hacker Junior, an upgrade for Famicom systems that provided composite video output and turbo controllers, for which they were sued by Nintendo and eventually settled out of court. The company was also known for the Disk Hacker software which allowed users to copy
Famicom Disk System disks using only an ordinary Disk System (as opposed to the official method of using Nintendo's authorised Disk Writer units, which were placed only in game stores and charged 500
yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...
to copy a selected game to a customer's disk).
Several versions were released to combat successive anti-piracy measures introduced by Nintendo.
None of Hacker's games, with the exception of their 15 PlayStation titles, were licensed by the respective
console manufacturers;
Hiroshi Yamauchi personally opposed pornographic content in Famicom games, believing they would tarnish Nintendo's reputation.
When
Tokuma Shoten
is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company’s product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, m ...
's ''Family Computer'' magazine published advertisements for Hacker's games, it felt its relationship with Nintendo—which it relied on for preview materials—was so threatened that five of Tokuma's top executives travelled to Nintendo to apologise to Yamauchi in person.
However, NEC was more tolerant of Hacker's PC Engine releases (under the Games Express brand) and actually thanked Hacker for helping console sales.
Hacker became a licensee for the
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
under the name Map Japan, releasing 15 games, but eventually closed in 2001 due to competition from other publishers and Hagiwara's own loss of interest in gaming.
Hacker's relationship to other Japanese adult console game producers of the era, such as Super Pig and MIMI Pro, is debated. For example, in the case of Super Pig, some claim this is merely a pseudonym under which Hacker published Disk System games
while others maintain it is an entirely separate company that only occasionally worked with Hacker.
Games
Famicom ROM cartridge
Famicom Disk System
* ''Bodyconquest I'' (Credited on-screen to Indies Soft)
* ''Bishoujo SF Alien Battle''
Super Pig games
* ''Sexy Invaders''
* ''Bishoujo Sexy Derby''
* ''Bishoujo Sexy Slot''
* ''Moero Yakyuuken''
* ''Gal's Dungeon: Yakyuuken Part II''
PC-Engine HuCard
All games branded Games Express.
* 1992 - ''
Lady Sword
''Lady Sword: Ryakudatsu Sareta 10 Nin no Otome'' (レディソード 略奪された10人の乙女), ''Lady Sword: The 10 Captive Maidens'', is a 1989 role-playing video game that was released by Games Express for the PC Engine in Japan th ...
''
* 1992 - ''Kyuukyoku Mahjong Idol Graphic''
* 1993 - ''Strip Fighter II''
* 1993 - ''Bodyconquest II''
* 1993 - ''Kyuukyoku Mahjong Idol Graphic II''
PC-Engine CD
All games branded Games Express, require Games Express System Card.
* 1994 - ''Hi-Leg Fantasy''
See also
*
American Video Entertainment
American Video Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game company based in San Jose, California. The company developed unlicensed video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The company developed two games on its own, ''Dudes with Att ...
*
Adult video game
References
Gamefaqs.com
{{Refend
Video game development companies
Video game publishers
Defunct video game companies of Japan
Erotic video games